Setting Things Straight

Vivian hurried away from the conference room turned ballroom, her heart beating from a mix of physical exertion and emotional upheaval. She quickly ended up at the stairwell and slumped down on the first steps.

“I’m pathetic,” she groaned after a moment, hugging her knees and resting her head on her arms. “How am I supposed to work with them after that? Ugh, why did I have to freak out?”

She knew the reason. Despite her resolve to remain professional, to keep her focus on unraveling the mystery around whoever was killing off weaker guilds and gaining the strength to not befall the same fate, she couldn’t stop from being attracted to her first allies. And that trek into unfamiliar territory, with the tantalizing promise of realization, stole her footing from under her.

John’s quick uptake on the academic and his evident desire to learn more about it, his interest in what she could do with both her innate talent and learned skills, and not just because of how they could benefit their endeavors, but because he wanted to see her succeed. His concern over her lack of field experience was the cherry on top.

If it had just been John that captured her interest, Vivian thought she could muddle through, especially after seeing how close he was to Aeolia. What made things harder was her unexpected attraction to the winged woman. She hadn’t thought of herself as bisexual, though she hadn’t put much thought into such things. But the way Aeolia had talked her up had sparked something in her and seeing her cuddle up with John didn’t elicit a sense of jealousy, but rather a double shot of longing.

“And now I’ve gone and messed it up,” she bemoaned into her knees. “Why couldn’t I just turn Aeolia down? It’d have been less awkward than shoving her and running away.”

Dark thoughts swirled in her head; John and Aeolia leaving to find other allies chief among them. Her thoughts continued down that path, conjuring scenarios of them falling against their foes, or herself ending up alone in their crosshairs. To make matters worse, her negative postulations dredged up old memories. Of when her father dismissed her as useless and of the rest of the family leaving her to her own devices afterwards.

The sound of footsteps pulled her out of her downward spiral and she braced herself for the worst.

Right after Vivian had fled

“What the hell was that?” John asked as Vivian vanished through the doorway, too gobsmacked to follow after.

“That was me fucking things up,” Aeolia said, her dejected voice barely audible over the orchestral music still playing from Vivian’s phone. John quickly went over to it and paused the music.

“What’d you say to her?” he rephrased his question, his brow quirked.

“Well,” she began, her eyes downcast, “I sort of tried to invite Vivian to bed.”

That was not what John had expected and it took him a second to reboot his mind.

“What?”

Aeolia continued to avoid his gaze. “I mean, I’ve seen you checking her out, so I figured we could, you know, try and relax that way. Have a bit of fun like that. I didn’t think she’d react like this.”

Of the many things Aeolia’s explanation brought to John’s mind, the first he managed to work into words was, “Haven’t you seen how flustered Vivian gets when that kind of stuff gets brought up?”

“Yeah,” Aeolia replied, her voice growing even more depressed. “It’s cute, but I didn’t think she’d freak out like that. Fuck, should’ve stuck with just letting things develop on their own.”

“This wasn’t some spur of the moment thing?” John asked.

Aeolia gave her shoulders a limp shrug. “Kind of. The idea popped into my head back in the Barrier. Right after you dealt with the second drone. I said that last night wasn’t a one off thing, remember?”

When John nodded, she continued, “Well, I saw you checking out her ass. I mean, I took a look too, and well. Lightbulb moment. You pulling her out of the way of the boss bot kind of set my mind on the idea.”

John quietly digested that revelation, his mind drifting back to the thoughts he had when breaking down the gears.

“This isn’t really the situation I thought I’d have to bring this up,” he said, “but I think we need to be on the same page before we try to smooth things over with Vivian. What exactly are we? I mean, are we in a relationship or are we just fuck buddies?”

The question caused Aeolia to look at John for a moment, then she averted her eyes again.

“I mean,” she began, pulling her wings around herself protectively, “if you want to just be fuck buddies, I guess that’ll work.”

“What? NO!" John blurted. "I-I mean, I'd much rather be dating you....”

The words said, John blushed, but emboldened by his declaration, he kept his eyes on Aeolia. He was treated to her expression brightening and her wing cocoon opened slightly.

“Really?” Aeolia queried, a slight tinge of red on her cheeks, her expression growing hopeful.

“I mean,” John continued, scratching his neck to relieve some tension, “I want to try, at least. You’re awesome and I want to spend time with you. And not just for fighting and stuff. I really liked just chatting last night.”

His last words caused both of them to flush more. Aeolia drew her wings back more and bashfully said, “I liked that too.”

Then her face darkened again. “But before we start planning our first date, I need to fix things with Vivian. Fuck, I made a mess.”

“Do you just want to sleep with her, or is there more to it?” John asked seriously.

“More,” Aeolia admitted. “Like I said before, she’s cute and I really like that drive she has. I don’t want to do the whole one night stand kind of thing. I figured we could fuck around then make things more offcial. You wouldn’t mind that, would you?”

John sighed, “You probably should have led with establishing a relationship first, but what do I know. We haven’t been following the usual dating playbook. And yeah, I wouldn’t. Kinda wish I upped Charisma. I am not equipped to deal with stuff like this.”

“Wait,” Aeolia interjected. “I’m the one who screwed up. I have to be the one to fix things.”

“Doesn’t mean you have to go it alone,” John said. “Honestly, if we had this conversation before we might have avoided this whole situation.”

Aeolia looked down dejectedly for a moment, then back at John with a fierce light in her eyes. “I appreciate the backup, but let me handle things. Unless I start making things worse, then step in and stop me.”

John’s lips quirked into a smile. “Deal. Let’s find Vivian.”

Before he moved to track down their flustered redheaded friend, he picked up her phone and slipped it into his pocket. Aeolia hadn’t waited those few seconds and already had left the room, the tapping of her talons going down the hallway. John quickly followed after her, catching up right as Aeolia reached the stairs and the wallowing Vivian curled upon them.

Aeolia cleared her throat, “Hey.”

John resisted the urge to groan at Aeolia’s lame attempt to restart their conversion as he hung back. Vivian shifted, lifting her head from her knees.

“I’m-” Vivian began but Aeolia cut her off.

“I came on too strong back there,” she blurted. “Shouldn’t have been so forward. And, um, I wasn’t just asking about just hooking up for some fun. I mean, you’re pretty cool and I really don’t think that just having some fun is something that’ll work for us and…”

John stopped her rambling by lightly grasping her shoulder. “I think Vivian wants to say something.”

True to his words, Vivian had perked up, head no longer on her knees. Her expression was neutral, though her eyes reflected her uncertainty.

“I,” the redhead began, her voice quiet, “I’m not really sure what to say here. Should we just forget all this happened?”

“If that’s what it’ll take to make things work again,” Aeolia said solemnly.

Vivian remained silent for a few moments, her face set in thought. The stretch of quiet made Aeolia shift uncomfortably, her wings drawn close to her body.

“What are your thoughts on all this, John?” Vivian finally asked, locking eyes with him.

“Well,” he answered, his voice cracking with sudden nerves, “since full disclosure sounds like the best way to avoid any more issues, I’ll say I think you’re cute, smart and awesome. And I think I'd be lucky to be in a relationship with either of you, especially if you both wanted to try a three-way relationship. And I’m not just saying that because I want to sleep with you.”

His face was red by the end of his little confession-slash-opinion, but there was an odd sense of relief just airing out his attraction. Vivian’s face matched his and her eyes shifted away from his slightly.

“Um,” she said, her words lost in her flustered state, “that’s, well.”

She paused and cleared her throat and took a breath. “That isn’t making things any easier, but the honesty is appreciated. Nothing good comes from subterfuge between partners. And since you two laid everything out, I guess it’s my turn. I, well, I can’t say I’m not adverse to that sort of relationship. I’m just not sure I’m ready for the whole package.”

Aeolia couldn’t stop from snorting from Vivian’s poor choice of words, and John shot her a look before his eyes snapped back to Vivian. If she caught her own double entendre, her face didn’t betray it.

“So,” Vivian continued, her tone becoming more timid, “is that okay?”

Aeolia stepped forward and knelt down, locking her yellow eyes with Vivian’s, and smiled.

“That’s perfectly fine with me,” she said softly. “Like I said before, I don’t just want to sleep with ya. We don’t want that.”

Vivian’s flush grew slightly. “Then, I want to try this.”

Aeolia smiled brightly and reached out, taking one of Vivian’s hands with hers. “Then come here!”

She stood, pulling the redhead up with her, then into a tight hug. Vivian let out a slight ‘eep’, her face quickly gaining color.

“Oi, John!” Aeolia called over to the staring Gamer. “You going to leave your girls hanging? Get over here!”

John hesitantly stepped towards them, then recalled Aeolia’s words from back at the Academy. ‘“Show some spine,” right?’ he thought, his approach growing more confident. ‘I think I can do that for you two.’

He closed the remaining distance and embraced the pair, Vivian ending up sandwiched between him and Aeolia. The redhead’s face now fully matched her hair, but a small, content smile worked its way on it.

“Now that’s a good look for ya,” Aeolia said, her own grin proudly displayed. “And despite how nice this is, I don’t think we can waste however long left until the bracelet’s done, so how about we go back to relaxing. Still fancy some dancing, Vi?”

Vivian, still slightly flushed, chewed her lip for a second before tilting her head towards John. “I think, maybe we could just watch something. You said you liked watching old movies.”

Despite the uptick in courage, John shifted awkwardly. “Yeah. I mean, I’m not some film connoisseur. Mom would just have the classic film channel on and we’d watch some together. Mostly the comedies.”

“I think some laughs are in order,” Aeolia threw in her two cents. “So, what’s the Gamer’s recommendation?”

“Um,” John said. “You got Netflix?”

Vivian lightly chuckled, the vibrations pleasant against John’s chest. “Yes, I’ve got Netflix. Though the Abyssal version probably has more variety. No need to deal with various national laws and such.”

John wracked his brain for a good selection, one that wouldn’t last longer than the remaining one hundred or so minutes the bracelet had left to craft. His lips stretched into a grin as he made a selection.

“Got a film in mind,” he announced. “Where are we going to watch?”

“I’ve got a small lounge with a tv set up,” Vivian supplied, pulling away from the dual embrace to point towards the door next to the conference room. “Oh! Right, my phone. I’ll need it to stream to the tv.”

“Got it right here,” John interjected, slipped the device out of his pocket and offered it to her. Vivian looked at it for a second then shook her head.

“You need to pick the movie,” she chuckled. “The app is right on the home screen.”

“Oh, right,” John said, unlocking the phone and tapping the app. As he pulled up the film, Aeolia and Vivian fully pulled away to head towards the lounge, though the winged woman quickly draped her arm around the redhead’s shoulder. Vivian’s steps slowed slightly, then she leaned on her as they entered the room.

John slipped in behind them. The square room was somewhere between the size of the kitchen and the conference room with a modest flat screen tv fixed to one wall and a plush couch placed near the opposite wall, a plaid blanket thrown over the back. The sight of the blanket caused John to snort in amusement.

“What’s so funny?” Aeolia asked as she settled down on the couch. “Well, this is comfy.”

“You’ll get it when we get to a certain part of the movie,” John answered as he plopped down beside her. Vivian regarded them and their seat for a moment before her face adopted a determined expression and she slid next to John. The couch wasn’t really meant for three people, so the fit was comfortably tight, the girls pressed nicely into John’s sides.

“So,” Vivian said, “what are we watching?”

John pressed play on his selection, the tv flickering as the film began, the opening company logos fading in.